Do you need to insure a car
short term for a brief holiday, to cover you whilst your own vehicle
is off the road for a short time, or for some other temporary
purpose? If you need to borrow another car for a short
period, or lend your own to someone else temporarily, and there was
an accident, would your day to day vehicle insurance policy cover
you? Even if you were covered, would this coverage be comprehensive
insurance, or just third party only, leaving you to pay heavy
uninsured vehicle repair bills? When you need cover for a car or
light van for a limited period of time, say a few days or weeks,
there is no need to buy a full year's insurance because temporary,
short term vehicle insurance is now readily available.

If you buy a short term or temporary car insurance policy, and there
is a car accident involving the insured vehicle, the claim is
usually made against the temporary insurer not your main insurance
company. This means that you can keep an existing no claims bonus
from your main insurer. Coverage is comprehensive for driving within
the UK (EU cover is third party only but can be upgraded to
comprehensive as an optional extra) so damage to your own vehicle should be covered too.

One of the main advantages of insuring a car or van on a short term,
temporary basis is it doesn't matter who is the owner of the vehicle
to be insured, provided that the driver has the owner's permission
to use it. You can therefore buy temporary cover to insure a car you
are borrowing from a friend for a short time, or for lending your
own car to someone else temporarily.